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  “I think I’m okay with that,” Eva said. “The question is, what do we do now?”

  “I’ve put you through a lot,” Filipe said. “More than anyone should ever have to endure. I made you think I was taking your baby from you. I abandoned you. I don’t know if we can ever come back from that.”

  “I know.”

  “But, I would really, really like to try.”

  Eva’s heart jumped.

  “Really?” she asked. “You would?”

  “Of course,” he said. “You don’t think I’d do all of this and not be with you, do you?”

  “So, what are you saying?”

  “I want you to be my girlfriend,” he said. “I want to move to New York on a full-time basis and get acquainted with one another. Once the baby is born, I want to buy a house upstate and start a life together. I want to bring her back here eventually. I want her to know where she comes from. But you’re right. This isn’t normal. I want her to be able to stand on her own two feet.”

  “You don’t want her to feel like she has anything to prove to us.”

  “Exactly,” he agreed. “We’ll tell her she’s a royal when she’s older. When she’s well-grounded enough to handle it. I don’t ever want her to feel like she has to marry for status or money. I certainly don’t want her to make life decisions based on our expectations.”

  “I agree,” Eva said. “But you haven’t really asked me yet, have you?”

  Filipe turned to her.

  “Right,” he said. “Of course. You haven’t said yes.”

  Eva was quiet. Tears filled her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Filipe asked.

  “It’s just so much,” she whispered. “I’ve been through so much in such a short amount of time. A year ago, I was leaving school and moving away from my parents. I was breaking out on my own and making a life for myself. I got a job. I tried to be independent. Then, I met you. I lost my job. I got rich and pregnant. I had a man in my life who I loved and couldn’t wait to see as often as possible.”

  Filipe smiled.

  “But then, you went away,” she said. “You abandoned me. And, for five months, I wondered if you were ever going to come back. I thought you were some playboy who got me pregnant for fun and then left me to figure it out on my own. I thought I was going to be a single mother with no family and no support. I tried everything I could think of to get over you, and nothing worked. You killed me slowly.”

  He put an arm around her.

  “Eva,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I’m never going to leave you again.”

  “Then you came back,” she continued. “You came back and brought treats and told me how much you loved me. You decided to fly me to Europe. You decided to get a divorce, leave your horrible wife, and be free. And now, you’re asking me to be your girlfriend. You want me to move into your penthouse apartment, have our child, and raise it together. You’re asking me to be a family.”

  “It sounds like a lot.”

  “If you’d told me, that Friday night at Oasis, I’d be meeting the love of my life, I never would have believed you,” Eva said. “I would have laughed until I cried. And a prince? Come on. That’s a joke. That doesn’t happen.”

  “Do you need time to think about it?”

  Eva laughed and shook her head.

  “No,” she said. “I’ve always believed that when you know, you know. And, when it comes to you, I’ve always known. I love you. You’re amazing and kind and thoughtful. You’re going to be an incredible father. And, as much as I hate you for hurting me, I know why you did it. You didn’t want to accept your feelings. You ran from them. There was a time, not so long ago, when I would have done the same thing.”

  Filipe looked at her with the same kind of need he’d shown when he’d asked for a baby.

  “I love you,” she told him, putting a hand on his cheek. “I’d be happy to be your girlfriend. I’d be happy to move in with you. And I’d be happy to raise this baby with you.”

  Filipe moved to kiss her. She held up a finger to pause him.

  “Just promise me,” she said, “That you’ll never leave me again.”

  “I promise.”

  He leaned forward to kiss her.

  And everything was perfect.

  Chapter Twenty

  Eva and Filipe were sitting on the couch in the penthouse. Filipe held the remote in his hand as he flipped through channels. Eva was very, very pregnant, and exhausted. She put her head on Filipe’s lap and napped while he tried to find something good on television. It seemed no amount of hockey or baseball games could appease him.

  She stirred. She was starting to get uncomfortable. She wondered if she should move into the bedroom, which had become her favorite place to lounge.

  Living in the penthouse had been the most relaxing experience of her life. A maid came every weekend to clean, so Eva didn’t have to lift a finger during the week. She never had to hail a cab or take the subway. Joseph was always available. Filipe had stayed home and cancelled all of his business arrangements to be with her during her pregnancy.

  She’d even made the choice to tell her parents. About a month ago, she’d written them an email. It hadn’t said much—just that she was having a baby in four weeks and that she was safe in a nice apartment uptown. She didn’t want to say anything about the prince. She rather liked the idea of her mother browsing the paper and reading about their nuptials one day.

  “Good lord,” she’d tell Eva’s father. “Eva just married a prince!”

  It was probably a pipe dream. She hadn’t received a response to her email, and she doubted she’d ever hear from them again. It was time to move on. She was starting her own family now.

  She was just getting ready to stand when Filipe’s phone rang.

  “Hello?” Filipe said. “Papa?”

  This time, Eva couldn’t hear both sides of the conversation. She did, however, feel Filipe’s body tense up.

  “Okay,” he breathed shakily. “We’ll come to visit as soon as we can.”

  He hung up the phone and set it down, trembling.

  “What’s wrong?” Eva asked, sitting up. “Is everything okay?”

  “It’s my mother,” Filipe said, tears in his eyes. “Her cancer is in remission.”

  Eva’s eyes grew wide.

  “Oh my God!” she cried. “Filipe, that’s great news!”

  She leaned forward to hug him. When she did, she felt something wet between her legs.

  “Oh, no,” she whispered.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She looked down.

  “My water just broke.”

  By the time they arrived at the nearest hospital, Eva had gone into full labor. She was rushed straight into the delivery room, Filipe close by her side. He held her hand the whole way through.

  “Just breathe,” he soothed. “It’s going to be okay. You can do this.”

  “It hurts,” Eva grunted, biting her lip to keep from screaming. “Oh God, it hurts!”

  Two hours later, she was holding a beautiful baby girl.

  “I think we should name her Ellie,” Filipe said.

  “Ellie,” Eva whispered. “I like it. Eva and Ellie.”

  “My perfect, wonderful girls.”

  Eva smiled.

  “Let’s do it.”

  Filipe left to get her some water. Eva held Ellie close.

  When Filipe returned, Eva was in tears.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, taking Ellie and rocking her in his arms.

  “I just realized,” Eva sputtered. “That night on the balcony, when we talked about finding meaning in our lives, this is what we were talking about. This is exactly what we wanted.”

  “I know,” Filipe breathed. “I know.”

  “I love you,” Eva gushed, tears in her eyes. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too,” Filipe said.

  The little family embraced, and Eva looked forward to their bright, happy future together.


  Epilogue

  Twelve Months Later

  Ellie crawled toward Eva’s outstretched hands, a huge grin on her face.

  “I think she might actually make it this time,” Eva said. Filipe was watching intently, recording the whole thing. “I really do.”

  “That little girl is growing too fast,” Filipe’s father said from his spot on the couch.

  They were at the palace in Benici. Eva was attempting to show Filipe’s parents how determined Ellie was to crawl all the way across the room.

  “She’s been working so hard at it,” Eva said.

  “Don’t tire her out,” Filipe said. “Your parents are going to want to see when they get here.”

  “Yeah,” Eva sighed. “But they’re late.”

  “They’ve never been here before,” he replied. “Give them some time to explore.”

  “I didn’t get to explore the first time I was here,” Eva pointed out.

  “That was different,” Filipe countered.

  She nodded, but she was still getting impatient. It had been months since she’d seen her parents.

  It began with an email that arrived four days after she gave birth.

  Eva, her mother had written. We were happy to hear from you and we’re glad you’re doing well. Your father and I feel we may have overreacted to your decision. We’d love to meet our grandchild and help you however we can.

  After she’d read it, Eva had immediately began crying. Filipe had rushed to her side. It had taken hours of talking and encouragement on Filipe’s part, but she had decided to respond.

  Mom, Eva had written. I think it would be nice for you and Dad to meet Ellie. But I think we should talk first.

  Two days later, her parents had arrived at the penthouse. For nearly six hours, they’d talked about Eva’s childhood and where everything had gone wrong. There had been fights, and all three of them had grown frustrated with one another. But, in the end, Eva had come to the realization that they cared—and that they’d never actually expected her to leave home.

  She’d introduced them to Ellie, with whom they’d immediately fallen in love. Last, she’d introduced them to Filipe. The three of them had hit it off right away.

  Since then, they’d been meeting once a week to play with the baby and talk about their work. Eva was impressed by how much they cared; if they were better grandparents than they’d been parents, that would be enough in her book.

  There was a knock at the front door. Filipe ran to answer it. Eva stood and pulled Ellie from the floor onto her hip.

  It was her first birthday party. This was the first time Filipe and Eva had brought Ellie to Benici. They’d decided to start living between both the city and the country—one month here and one month there. Eva’s parents had so badly wanted to be around for Ellie’s first birthday that they’d agreed to fly to Benici to celebrate.

  Eva was grateful for the support on both sides of the family. She knew she and Filipe couldn’t have done it alone. Even with the luxury of being full-time parents, there were hard days. They were still, after all, getting to know each other.

  It wasn’t always easy. Filipe could be stubborn and hard-headed. His mood still changed more quickly than his clothes. But Eva could be overdramatic and panicky. They leveled each other. They kept each other sane. And, somehow, it worked.

  Eva was impressed. There’d always been a part of her, small but existent, that hadn’t seen them working out. How many people could say they’d been in love since the night they met?

  Eva supposed there weren’t many at all.

  Filipe ushered her parents into the room. Eva set Ellie down on the floor, crossed the room, sat down, and reached out her arms. The smile returned to Ellie’s face, and she began to crawl forward.

  “She can crawl that far?” Eva’s mother asked.

  “They’ve been trying to show us for an hour,” Filipe’s mother said. “We haven’t seen it happen yet.”

  Filipe’s mother, Cora, was doing incredibly well. She’d completely recovered from her illness over the past year. The doctors said it was a miracle. Personally, Eva thought it was a change of pace. Her son was truly happy. She could finally be happy, too, knowing she’d done the right thing.

  “She can do it,” Eva insisted. “Trust me. She’s done it at home.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want an audience,” Filipe said. “She has stage fright.”

  But Ellie kept crawling forward, slowly but surely.

  Eva knew she could do it. She and her daughter had developed a strong, unbreakable bond. She was in love with her child, as much—if not more—than she was in love with Prince Filipe di Benici. Nothing in the world made her happier than watching their daughter smile. Nothing made her feel more fulfilled than watching their child succeed.

  She hadn’t told Filipe yet, but she was hoping they’d start trying for a boy soon. Ellie needed a younger brother.

  Ellie was nearly there now.

  “You’ve got it, honey,” Eva whispered.

  Ellie reached her. There was a round of applause. Eva pulled her daughter into her arms.

  And, all at once, she knew life was perfect.

  The End

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  The Sheikh’s Sextuplet Baby Surprise

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  Copyright 2017 by Holly Rayner and Lara Hunter

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  Chapter One

  “And that’s how to attract your ideal customer to your brand. If there are any questions, we’ll take them now. Thank you.”

  The conference hall erupted in applause, and Rachelle turned to her assistant, Phoebe.

  “Make sure you mark down the names of everyone on that panel. I’d like to meet up with each of them individually and see if we can develop a partnership.”

  “You got it,” Phoebe whispered back, making notes in her black notepad.

  A few audience members stood up and asked questions about how they could use the proposed theory to increase their own consumer bases, and Rachelle listened intently, making mental notes of everyone in the room.

  Having recently received a promotion at her firm—one of the best in Chicago—Rachelle was determined to network with as many people as possible in order to fulfill her mission of expanding their holdings internationally.

  As time for questions ran out, the panel thanked the audience once again, and everyone stood, stretching in their tailored suits as the exit became flooded with attendees. Rachelle remained in her seat, and Phoebe glanced at her with a question in her eyes.

  “Just biding my time,” Rachelle said, watching the panel.

  Two gentlemen and a blond woman stood at the podium, fielding individual questions from other attendees. Rachelle watched carefully as, one by one, each person received their answer and then moved onto the next session. When the speakers were freed up, she made her move.

  Rising, she walked on her high black heels toward the podium.

  “Fantastic presentation,” she said with a smile.

  The man, who happened to be a major player in the advertising world in Zaradi, their current host country, smiled, his teeth a stark white against his dark skin.<
br />
  “Thank you. We are quite proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish here in Zaradi.”

  “As you should be. I’ve been watching the success of your company for quite some time.”

  The man lifted an eyebrow.

  “Oh? And where are you from, Miss…?”

  “Smith. Rachelle Smith. I’m here on behalf of KSK Worldwide, out of Chicago.”

  The man nodded.

  “Ah, yes. I’ve heard of KSK. You all have a great holding there in Chicago, and the United States.”

  “We do, which is why we’re looking to expand internationally.”

  The man’s eyes lit up with a knowing expression.

  “And so, they have sent you to the Middle East. There is always room for growth and partnerships here. We’ve been looking to make better ties with our American accounts as well. Perhaps you and I can be of service to one another.”

  “Perhaps we can,” Rachelle agreed, cool as a cucumber.

  The man pulled out a business card from his front pocket and handed it to her. She took it and handed it to Phoebe, who, as always, was just a step behind and ready to help with whatever was needed.

  “You can look forward to hearing from me soon,” Rachelle said.

  “I will certainly look forward to it, Miss Smith. Until then, please enjoy the conference and our beautiful country. I think you will not be disappointed with what we have to offer.”

  “I’m afraid I haven’t made it much further than the airport and the hotel lobby.”

  “Well, that is certainly a shame. If you can, I encourage you to take one of the many tours of this fine city, at the very least. Zaradi is an abundant country with much to offer.”